J. Ochoa

Rayo Zuliano's history in the Copa Sudamericana is short, and J. Ochoa wrote its opening line himself: on 8 May 2024, in a 1-5 defeat away to Athletico Paranaense, he scored the club's first-ever goal in the competition. It stands as the clearest marker of what he has meant to a side still finding its footing on the continental stage.

Ochoa's rise with Rayo Zuliano came through the domestic ladder. He was part of the squad that pushed the club up from the Segunda División, and in 2023 he finished as the team's top scorer with five goals, a return that helped Rayo Zuliano reach Venezuela's top flight for the first time. Details of where his career started, and which clubs shaped him before Zulia, are not on the record; he has been with Rayo Zuliano since January 2022.

His progress has not run in a straight line. He worked his way back for the Clausura and returned to the side. A shorter injury layoff followed in February 2025, keeping him out for less than a week.

Ochoa has not featured for the Venezuela national team. His value has been built entirely at club level. What stands out is less the volume of goals than their timing: a top scorer's tag in a promotion season, and a goal that put the club on the scoresheet in continental football for the first time.